Busted Illusion
by Hesturoth
Summary: Cat Noir tries to comfort Marinette when she detransforms from being Multi-Mouse and is told she can't be given a miraculous again because she compromised her identity.


**Author's Note:**

**I do not own any of these characters.**

* * *

"Mirage," Multi-Fox yelled after watching the lucky charm trap the akuma. Cat Noir had transformed and came around the corner just in time to watch Ladybug show up and talk to one of the Multi-Mouse miniatures.

"Good Job, Multi-Mouse. Thanks to you, I got my kwami back... and Cat Noir's."

Cat Noir waved from afar. "Awesome plan, girls!"

Ladybug released the akuma from its trap and purified it as usual, her miraculous cure fixing everything.

Cat Noir watched as Multi-Mouse reunited her smaller forms and grew into a normal-sized girl. "We came. We saw. We kicked her hat." Multi-Mouse took off her miraculous, turning back into Marinette. "Now I've got to give you this back, right?"

Ladybug looked at her in horror since Miss Mendeleiev was still sitting on the ground nearby. "No, not here. Marinette, you shouldn't have given me the miraculous back. Not in front of..." Ladybug and Marinette looked over at Cat Noir almost like he was the reason she was being scolded.

"But I didn't think you kept any secrets from each other. Ah! I'm so clumsy!"

"I'm sorry, but now your identity is no longer a secret. I won't be able to give you a miraculous again."

Multi-Fox was resting her eyes for just a few seconds as the illusion played out, trying to calm the pounding in her head from using too many miraculouses. Unfortunately, she opened her eyes just in time to see Cat Noir try to place his hand on Marinette's shoulder to comfort her about blowing her identity... and hopefully clarify it was because she detransformed in front of Miss Mendeleiev accidentally. After all, Ladybug hadn't told Max that he could no longer be a miraculous holder when they fought his mother. Cat Noir had obviously learned his identity.

Cat Noir's hand went right through Marinette's shoulder and the illusion disappeared. All of the prior damage reappeared and the lucky charm trapping the akuma appeared. He was shocked as he looked around and saw some of the individual Multi-Mouse girls shaking their heads and exclaiming, "This is a disaster!" Multi-Fox walked out from behind the place she was hiding, separated from Trixx, and motioned for the others. They all joined her, and she resized up to normal like the illusion had shown previously. Multi-Bug looked at Cat Noir with a mix of dread and sadness.

Cat Noir looked at her and noticed she was wearing all the other miraculouses. His eyes grew wide. "Ladybug! Why'd you do that? You know it's dangerous just using two miraculouses, much less all of them." Multi-Bug just looked at him and fainted into his arms. Cat Noir assumed it was from wearing all the miraculouses, so he started taking off the miraculouses, being careful not to remove her earrings or the Mouse Miraculous... since he wasn't sure which one would completely detransform her. He picked her up and started carrying her back to Master Fu's house after informing Miss Mendeleiev, "I'm sorry. But you'll need to see yourself home."

* * *

"Master Fu!" Cat Noir called out as soon and stepped through the door.

"Quick, put her down over here." Cat Noir placed her down and looked worriedly at Master Fu. "What did you see?"

"She cast an illusion to make it look like a classmate of mine was Multi-Mouse and that she _accidentally_ detransformed in front of me. I went to console her because Ladybug had told her that she couldn't be given a miraculous again. When I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, the illusion vanished. When the real her joined back together with all of her Multi-Mouse parts, I noticed she was wearing all of the miraculouses and she fainted before she could say anything. I'm pretty sure the akuma is still trapped under the lucky charm at the top of the tower."

"Hurry back to the tower and cataclysm the akuma before the lucky charm disappears. Then return here... immediately. Don't even feed Plagg until you're back here."

"Yes, sir." Cat Noir left in a streak of black.

As soon as the door shut, Multi-Bug sat up and said, "He's finally gone. I wasn't sure how much longer I could fake being passed out. I really needed to sneeze there for a several seconds."

"You scared me, Marinette! I was afraid you had hurt yourself trying to use all of the miraculouses!"

"It was tough, but I'm fine. I think I'll have a lingering headache for a few hours though." Multi-Bug rubbed her temple as it throbbed under her touch. "I just couldn't have Cat Noir interrogate me on top of the tower. He completely blew up my plan to trick him into thinking I'm not Ladybug. What are we going to do?"

"I'm afraid it's too late. In trying to trick him, I'm sure he no longer can be persuaded that you are not Ladybug. I'm going to let the two of you have a few minutes to say your goodbyes to Tikki and Plagg." Multi-Bug's eyes began to tear up. "I'm sorry. But I'm just going to have to find a new Ladybug and Cat Noir."

"That's it? There's no..." Multi-Bug's transformation dropped midsentence. "... other option?"

"I'm afraid not. You were both fully aware of the consequences of learning each other's identity. I'm sorry your plan failed. But the consequences remain, regardless of how hard you tried to protect your identity."

Cat Noir burst through the door and stopped when he saw Marinette sitting up with tears in her eyes. She looked at him and just began crying harder. He ran over and hugged her. "I had a feeling I'd see you here. I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to you."

Marinette explained to him as best she could between sobs, "We... We're... going... to... have to... give... up being... Ladybug... and Cat... Noir... Please... Please... don't... hate... me..."

"I could never hate you. It's okay. At least we'll have each other. That is... if you'll have me..." He whispered, "Claws In," and then leaned back to look at her. "... even after knowing who I am."

"A-Adrien!" She clung to him like he was going to disappear if she dared to let go even a little. "Please... tell me... this is real."

"It's real, Bugaboo."

Marinette sniffed. "Don't call me Bugaboo." Adrien just let out a laugh and rocked her back and forth.

* * *

After several minutes of being comforted by Adrien, Marinette finally opened her eyes and looked over to Tikki. A fresh set of tears began flowing. "I'm so sorry, Tikki."

"It's okay Marinette. You have Adrien now. You get to go back to being a normal girl, with a normal life. No more secret identities and cover stories."

Plagg was floating behind Marinette and staring at Adrien. "Are you okay, kid?"

Adrien silently shifted a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, causing a flood of previously held tears to fall unrestrained. "I will be. But I'll still miss you. I just have to figure out how I'm _ever_ going to live in a room that doesn't smell like sticky cheese."

Plagg and Adrien laughed a little. Adrien fished a piece of camembert out of his pocket and tossed it to Plagg.

Marinette opened her purse with one hand and pulled out the cookie she was keeping for Tikki. She held it out for Tikki silently. Tikki took the cookie, and said, "Thank you, Marinette."

"Adrien. Marinette." Master Fu stated. "You can have as much time as you need to say your goodbyes. It'll be safe in here as there's a magic spell that blocks the Moth and Peacock Miraculouses from sensing emotions within this house."

Tikki nuzzled Marinette's cheek and Plagg curled up on Adrien's head as the two teens strengthened the embrace they were still in. After a few hours, Adrien and Marinette walked out of Master Fu's house, hand-in-hand.

"My hand feels so light without the ring on it."

"I know. My ears feel naked without the earrings in them."

When they got to the bakery, Marinette invited Adrien up. Upon entering her room, Adrien remarked, "I think the last time I was in your room was when we were modeling your new designs... at least, the last time I was here as Adrien."

Marinette thought for a second. "Oh yeah... You were here as Cat Noir after my dad was akumatized." Marinette got a look in her eyes and she walked over to the jewelry box that contained the accessories for the clothes they were modeling. She pulled out a set of earrings and a ring. "Here." She held out the ring to Adrien. "I know it's not the same, but..."

"It's perfect. I'll never take it off." He slipped it on his finger as she placed the earrings in her ears.

"I don't think I will either." She gave him a sad smile. "Wanna play some Ultimate Mecha Strike?"

Adrien smiled and nodded. "I have a few hours until I have to be home. I don't really feel like going to fencing today. Tomorrow we're going to the museum to look at the unveiling of the new statue they found in Tibet. Would you like to join me?"

"I'd love to, but I'm already going to be there with Alya. She says she has some big scoop."

The two teens settled into the game, losing track of time until Adrien was called by Nathalie. He ran back across the street to the school with a box of pastries to bribe the Gorilla into not mentioning he had skipped fencing.

* * *

"I saw you leaving the museum this morning. Was everything okay?"

"Yeah. Nathalie just had a dizzy spell."

"Is she okay?"

"Father says she will be... but I'm worried. Mother had dizzy spells before she disappeared." Adrien took a shaky breath. "Anyway... how'd things go with Alya?"

"Fine. It was hard to act _normal_. But I think I pulled it off. She didn't seem suspicious. I just... can't deal with her questioning me right now. Anyway, she figured out there were past superheroes and that there must be guardians who hand out the miraculouses. She posted it to the Ladyblog before I could stop her. Oh well... I guess it's not our concern any more... huh?"

"I guess not." They both looked at each other knowingly. "Would... would you like to go to the movies tonight?"

"S-Sure. I'd... love to."

After they finished the movie, Marinette turned her phone back on and it dinged several times. "Uh, oh... Alya was trying to get ahold of me." Marinette dialed Alya and answered tentatively. "Hi Alya. What's up? ... What? ... Really? ... That's wild! ... Okay, see you at school on Monday."

Adrien looked at Marinette expectantly. When she just stood there for several seconds, he cleared his throat. "What happened?"

"That statue at the museum is missing and several people reported seeing a large creature running from the museum. Apparently, it ran straight to some house a few blocks from Notre Dame."

"Master Fu?"

"Alya wouldn't have known... but I'm afraid it might've been." Adrien escorted Marinette to his car quickly and directed the Gorilla to drive to the area Alya described. Marinette and Adrien gasped as they slowed down due to emergency vehicles and rolled slowly past Master Fu's house, which now had a large hole in the side. "Oh no, Adrien! Do you think he was there?"

"It doesn't look like there was a fight."

"You don't think Alya's story led Hawk Moth to him, do you?"

"I doubt it. It was probably just a coincidence." He tapped the Gorilla on the shoulder. "Let's go home." With a nod, the car returned to the Agreste Mansion.

* * *

Adrien and Marinette walked in the front door to see Gabriel... and Emilie... standing at the top of the stairs. "Mother?" Adrien ran as fast as he could and almost knocked her down as he wrapped his arms around her. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, Adrien. It's me. It's really me."

"I'm so glad you came back! Please tell me you're staying!"

"I'm staying, son. I'm never going to leave again." He hugged her even tighter as Marinette watched from below with a large smile on her face. "Who's your friend?"

Adrien looked down to Marinette as she began walking up the stairs to join them. "Mother. This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's the most awesome person I know."

"Hello, Marinette." Emilie held her hand out.

Marinette took her hand and gave a gentle shake. "Mrs. Agreste. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Please. Call me Emilie."

"Marinette and I just started dating. We're in the same class at school."

"Is that so? I thought you enjoyed being homeschooled?"

"I did... but when you left, I just couldn't stay in my room alone all day. I had to get out. Public school seemed like the best option."

"And your father agreed to it?"

"Not at first," Gabriel replied while clearing his throat. "But I'm glad I changed my mind."

Adrien looked around. "Where's Nathalie?"

Gabriel cleared his throat again and looked at Emilie. "She's.. uh..."

"She decided to take an immediate opening at another company. She left about half an hour ago. I think she was heading straight to the airport."

"Oh..." Adrien looked sad for a minute. "I'm sorry we missed her. Marinette and I had my bodyguard drive around for a little bit before coming home. If I had known, we would've come straight home."

"It's okay son. I'm sure she knows you'll miss her. She said she was going to miss you the most." Gabriel smiled slightly, but genuinely.

Adrien looked back at his mother and smiled. "I might be sad about Nathalie... but I'm still very happy you're home, mother."

"Your mother has had a long day. I'm sure you want to spend more time with her, but she needs to rest. We'll see you in the morning for breakfast. Miss Dupain-Cheng, it's good to see you again."

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste. I'm happy you're back, Emilie."

As Gabriel and Emilie walked away, she teased him, "Always so formal..."

Adrien and Marinette went to Adrien's room to talk about everything that had happened. It wasn't until many years later they discovered Nathalie laying beneath the mansion in a glass coffin.


End file.
